Central Park Media Lets Fans Cast "Outlanders"

Peter Tatara writes to let us know that Central Park Media is holding a public casting call for the English version of "Outlanders." For each of the four main characters you get a choice between four different voice actors. Seems like a fun way to generate interest and ensure that the majority of enthusiasts like the dubbing.

Comments

Re:"Battia: a sexy friend"

[DoktorTomoe]

A kind of perception that actually comes close to most women' character. However, with nekomimi (not sure if slashdot could handle kanji) it is actually way cuter, isn't it?

I wouldn't say that

[Ogemaniac]

I live in Japan and know a fair bit of the language. English is just as "expressive", in my opinion. The problem is that we express things in such fundamentally different ways that one-for-one translation is impossible. I agree with you - subs are better - but not because they are more accurate or expressive. They are better because you still get the emotion as it was emoted in Japanese, with the neutral English translation below. When it is dubbed, the emotion must be placed directly atop an English phrase, and they often do not match or sound really silly.

Wow.

[MasamuneXGP]

Putting aside the anime-haters and sub vs dub arguments, this is a MAJOR step in the right direction for anime in the US. Dubbers who actually care about what the already-existing fans think?! Unthinkable. I can only hope more dubbing companies start doing this. I can only imagine how awesome it would be if a popular anime such as Naruto got similar treatment.

Fool All of the People Some of the Time

[Doc Ruby]

Democratic voting is far from a guarantee that the majority will be happy with their selection once its made. But it is very handy in making people feel like the selection is their fault, that they should get defensive, and protect their selection from the others, even when they become the minority through attrition.

Re:Terrible idea

[Hatta]

You don't understand voting for 4 candidates. What happens is that the minority (~26%) likes the dubbing and the majority (the other 74%) hates it.

It would be a good place to use something like Instant Runoff Voting, which solves this problem. The american government has the same problem, see the 2000 election. Using IRV in contests like this would be a great way to teach people about it.